


Family Feud

by onewomanshow



Series: By Kismet or Happenstance [8]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Azula (Avatar) is A Good Sibling, Drama, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Happy Azula (Avatar), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, Mental Health Issues, Past Child Abuse, Postpartum Depression, Sibling Bonding, Soft!Zuko, Steambaby, baby blues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:02:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28757781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onewomanshow/pseuds/onewomanshow
Summary: Zuko tried to understand his father for the sake of himself and his sister so that he could right the wrongs and be better than him. It's the latter who helps him understand that he didn't need to try so hard.Or: In which Azula and Zuko share a moment that makes up for all of the years lost between the two of them.
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Izumi & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: By Kismet or Happenstance [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764538
Comments: 6
Kudos: 82





	Family Feud

**Author's Note:**

> Coming up with titles are hard. 
> 
> I've checked and re-checked this multiple times so I apologize if there are any errors. I spend all day on the computer since I work fulltime from home and I'm in grad school - my eyes are burning lol. Enjoy <3.

_“The nature of impending fatherhood is that you are doing something that you’re unqualified to do, and then you become qualified while doing it.” - John Green_

Zuko tried to understand his father.

He tried to understand why he pitted his children against each other, why power and destruction was more important to him than his family, and how he was able to burn him with not even so much as a second thought or any remorse about it.

He tried to understand why he didn’t stand up for his mother, how he allowed her to be exiled and have her memory wiped, even if it was voluntary.

He tried to understand how he could let his family fall apart, with no intention to stop it.

Did he even consider them a family? Or were they just an obligation?

He tried to put himself in his shoes and see things from his point of view, to make sense of it all. He even told himself that if his firstborn, his son, lacked promise, that maybe he’d feel the same. 

(He does not.) 

But then he witnessed his Uncle’s emotional turmoil firsthand after he lost his son, Lu Ten, and he knew that it was a love and pain that was indescribable. He witnessed the way Hakoda interacted with Sokka and Katara, particularly after he was recused from prison – and it was like they were never even apart.

He remembered very clearly the first time the elder Water Tribe chief referred to him as his son. It was long before him and Katara married but it only made proposing just a little less nerve-wracking. It was a suffocating feeling, knowing that the man who lost his wife to the Fire Nation, looked beyond that and not only didn’t blame him for that mistake but treated him like a member of the family.

So as he stood in middle of the nursery, staring down at his daughter who was sleeping peacefully, he knew he couldn’t understand him and _never_ would.

There was nothing in this world that he wouldn’t do for her or his wife for they were his lifeline in a physical being. He wasn’t going to be another obstacle to get over, a battle she had to fight, or a person to hide from.

He wanted Izumi to be able to come to him about anything. And know that no matter what, his love for her would never waver – that even if he were upset or disappointed, she would always be his princess. He never wanted her to feel the way he did all of those years ago – angry, scared, unsure, _alone_.

“I’m never going to hurt you. You have my word.” He spoke softly. He just gotten her down for a nap and the last thing he wanted was for her to wake up. He was trying to coax Katara into sleeping when the baby is asleep and while it was difficult at first, he finally managed to convince her that she would be fine and the Fire Nation wouldn’t fall apart if their Lady rested some.

It wasn’t that Katara didn’t trust Zuko alone with her – it's that she was always self-sacrificing to the point of exhaustion which meant she was trying to give all of herself to everything at once. He eventually made it an order as the Fire Lord that she would take breaks and she couldn’t argue with that, even though she did try.

“Making legal agreements with a 3-month-old? Zuko, she can barely hold her own head up.”

Zuko jumped at the sound of his sister’s shrill voice.

“You scared the hell out of me, Azula.” He whispered harshly.

Azula grinned wickedly. “I see I still have it.”

He rolled his eyes. “That’s not exactly a good thing.”

She raised an eyebrow. “For you, it’s not.” Then she stepped forward, arms crossed underneath her chest. She nodded in her niece’s direction. “How is she?”

“Good. Really good. Katara, mom, and Gran-Gran all say she’s developing well, tummy time and all of that. Katara’s doing a lot better too. I was really worried about her for a while there.”

Azula smiles sympathetically. Katara had a bout of baby blues shortly after Izumi was born which consisted of random crying spells, restlessness, and extreme irritability.

They knew something was up when she snapped at Gran-Gran for trying to help her – which led to more crying after the realization of what she’d done sunk in, even though Gran was completely unphased by it.

Turns out, she was struggling to cope with the fear of not living to see their daughter grow up, the way she was forced to after her mother was killed.

“I’m glad to hear that.” She affirms and Zuko nods.

A comfortable silence passes between them before she speaks again.

“I take it you were affirming her with positive thoughts about how you’re going to be a much better dad than our father was.”

Zuko sighs. “Yeah.”

“You know...you already are miles ahead of him.”

He swallows. “I just feel like…I don’t know what I’m doing. As a father and a husband. I had no idea how to help Katara when she was struggling. All I could do was sit back and watch because I didn’t know what to do to make her stop hurting besides hold her and tell her that I was right there with her and we’re going to figure it out together."

He knew how to care for Katara, the person, Katara, the Fire Lady, and Katara, his wife but he was still trying to figure out how to take care of Katara, the mother. 

“And you don’t think that was helpful?” She questions.

He runs a hand through his hair – it’s disheveled look a reflection of first-time parenthood.

Azula crosses the room and sits on the daybed. “Well, don’t just stand there. Are you going to join me or not?” She teases, a gleam in her eyes.

He takes the empty space next to her. “I don’t want to mess up. I don’t want Zumi to grow up and wonder where she went wrong like I did all of those years ago and I don’t want Katara to feel like she made a mistake – like _I_ was a mistake.”

“Ugh, are you even hearing yourself right now, Zuzu?” Zuko groans at the use of her nickname for him.

“I’ve seen the way you look at Katara and Izumi, who is a very cute kid to be yours, by the way. I don’t think our father has ever looked at either one of us like that and _I_ was the favorite.” She pauses. “You love them, and I know it probably doesn’t seem like enough but to love someone that strongly…I know you’ll never intentionally do either one of them wrong. I knew when you jumped in front of lightning for her that whatever the two of you had going on was…different. I'm sure there's a riddle or something Uncle can share about how the sun lets his light shine through the moon. Something sappy like that. He's always been a lot better at this than either one of us." 

Zuko remains silent. Azula wasn’t good at expressing herself and tended to avoid more intimate conversations but due to years of rehabilitative therapy, she was trying. And he knew that being an aunt now fueled the drive to be and do better even more in the similar fashion being a husband and a father did for him.

She wanted to be in Izumi’s life – and Katara and Zuko both agreed that they would give her a chance and let her.

“Why do you think I directed it at her? I knew.” She looks down then and he can tell she feels remorseful about her actions on that near fatal day despite them forgiving her. 

After all, they were just kids fighting a war and trying to fix grownups’ mistakes.

“I knew before you even realized it yourself that you loved her. Mom nor dad, they never fought for me like that. You are a good father, Zuko, a good husband, and a great brother. You could’ve had me thrown in jail too, but you didn’t. You thought I was worth saving and I really appreciate that.”

He’s about to acknowledge her with an expression of thanks when Izumi stirs in the background, gurgling as she awakes. On instinct, Zuko is up and heading towards the crib before she even processes it.

“Hi, princess.” He coos. He reaches down to pick her up. “You’re not wet or crying. Did you wake up because you heard your aunt and I talking?”

She babbles contentedly and Zuko turns to Azula once more, a smile on his face. “Would you like to hold your niece?”

Azula blinks. She’s seen Izumi, multiple times at this point, and her late-night crying woke her up occasionally, but it’s been 3 months and she still hadn’t worked up the courage to hold her herself.

She was waiting for her to get a bit older and more solid, not a chubby, semi-soft, blob of flesh before she handled her.

“I’ve, um, I’ve never held a baby before.” She speaks softly, which is unusual from the domineering personality she typically presented.

It’s moments like this that reminds him just how young and inexperienced she is. Granted, Azula and Katara were the same age, but their childhood experiences were so different that while she had experience with children under the age of 5, neither one of the royal Fire Nation siblings had relatively any, living a fairly secluded and socially isolating life. Azula didn’t have an Uncle Iroh or Gran-Gran to fill in the gaps either.

Zuko scoffs indignantly. “If I can handle it, I’m pretty sure you can. Are you forgetting that you’ve always been better than me?” He teases. “Come here.”

Reluctantly, she stands up and makes her way over to them. She sighs. “Okay, what do I do?”

He gently maneuvers Izumi with one hand, confident enough that he can do that now, and guides his sister’s with the other.

“Just make sure you support her head.” He comments as he hands his daughter over to her and Azula holds her tightly as if she’s afraid she’ll drop (or break) her.

This is it. The moment they’ve all been anticipating, albeit happening sooner than either one of them expected.

“Hi Izumi. Princess Izumi. You’re the heir to the throne now so make sure people address you by your title. Or not. You know, it’s your choice.”

Zuko rolls his eyes, chuckling.

Typical Azula.

Then both still and hold their breath as Izumi twists her face up and opens her mouth as if to wail.

But, instead of a scream or a cry, she shrieks before chortling into a fit of giggles.

Azula stares, the corner of her lips turning up into a small smile. “Has she – has she done that before?”

Zuko shakes his head, in awe. “No, she hasn’t. You just, you made her laugh. Wow.” Then he sighs. “Katara’s going to be crushed she missed it.”

At this revelation, she doesn’t miss a beat. “I’m guess I’m going to have to make you do that again then huh, kiddo? Your mom’s going to be so jealous. I can’t wait.” 

**Author's Note:**

> In my head, Azula knew that Zuko would do anything to protect Katara, including throwing himself in front of a Comet-charged lightning bolt. It was deliberate and calculated even in her delirious state. Also in my head is that Azula is redeemed and allowed to heal because yeah, she was a sociopath but she was also 14 and a victim of child abuse. I'm not saying we should forget that she ever willingly and eagerly harmed people, but I'm all for her learning from and apologizing for her mistakes to become a better, more stable person. The line about the sun reflecting on the moon is actually from a poem I saw on Pinterest: "You be the sun, Ill be the moon- just let your light come shining through; and when night comes, just like the moon, Ill shine the light right back to you." I thought it was perfect to describe Zuko and Katara's relationship and I referenced a similar metaphor in my multi-chapter fic that this is a companion piece to. 
> 
> It can be found here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/712131759808498258/
> 
> Also, Zuko is the softest of simps and loves his wife and bbygirl 😭


End file.
